Tomorrow, Thursday, June 26, opens to the public at CentroCentro, a space of the Area of Culture, Tourism, and Sports of the City Council of Madrid, Three Formal Experiences. The exhibition, curated by Miguel Cereceda, proposes a reflection on contemporary sculpture based on the work of three active artists: Núria Fuster, Clara Montoya, and Sandra Val.
Inspired by the work Nature, History, God by the philosopher from San Sebastián, Xavier Zubiri, published in 1944, the exhibition presents three models of research that unfold the formalistic tradition of sculpture. Despite its experimental nature, this formalism does not hesitate to express certain contents that, in the case of the sculptures and installations that can be seen on the tour, exemplify three of the fundamental concepts of Western metaphysics.
Three Formal Experiences opens with the sculptural intervention of Núria Fuster, inspired by the work of the English sculptor Barbara Hepworth. The itinerary continues with Clara Montoya’s installation proposal, in which she deliberately wants to suggest the idea of responsibility we have regarding nature and history. The exhibition closes with a sculptural installation by the artist Sandra Val, in which the concept of the garden is evoked, along with the first appearance of the idea of nature.
The exhibition can be viewed on the 3rd floor of CentroCentro until October 26, 2025, with free admission. During the exhibition, guided tours will be conducted by both the artists and the curator; dates, times, and registrations will be published on the website centrocentro.org
Núria Fuster
This artist from Alicante (Alcoy, 1978) works with objects she usually finds in public spaces, most of the time, discarded items. In her works, preferably sculptures, furniture and unused objects are her raw material, and the process is her resource. On this occasion, she explicitly vindicates the experience of the British sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), whose exploration of space, voids, and emptiness in sculpture, through the perforation of objects, serves as a guiding thread to present her own reflection on the relationships between art and space. «I chose Barbara Hepworth,» explains Fuster, «because I consider it essential to do historical justice and recognize her pioneering role in the development of modern sculpture, especially regarding the exploration of emptiness as a central compositional element.»
Clara Montoya
In Three Formal Experiences, Clara Montoya (Madrid, 1974) presents five installations that reflect on our responsibility in relation to nature, on how we build and understand the world through our gaze, and the impact of our actions on the environment at an individual and group level.
Sandra Val
Sandra Val (Tarragona, 1979) constructs imaginary scenarios that propose utopia and space travel. Her installation The Construction of the Garden explores this relationship and evokes the possibility that life may have been generated on the planet by a cosmic gardener. In her work, she uses various materials: porcelain, metal, textiles, or glass, among others, to create works that move between the recognizable and the symbolic. Architectural spaces related to places of worship and power inspire the creation of her site-specific installations, a broad universe that moves between physical reality and virtual settings.
More information at: centrocentro.org
